Revised Program, effective Fall 2016

This program provides advanced study in chemistry for individuals who are currently employed in chemistry-related industrial or governmental positions, or desire professional training before entering the job market or a doctoral program.

Admission Requirements:

An undergraduate degree with a major or a strong minor (approximately 25 hours) in chemistry.
One year of calculus-based college physics (PHY 223 /PHY 224 ) and calculus.
Advanced undergraduate courses corresponding to courses in organic, physical, and analytical chemistry, along with either inorganic or biochemistry. The graduate coordinator will use examinations to ascertain competency and the need for remedial work in any deficient areas. A maximum of 4 credit hours of graduate credit will be allowed for courses taken to correct deficiencies. Students who do not meet the minimum academic admission requirements may be admitted conditionally to the MS in Chemistry degree program and will be expected to complete the conditions by the end of the first year.
Satisfaction of the Graduate School admission requirements of GPA of 2.75 (3.00 preferred)
Submission of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) general test scores required for all students. For International Students, additional TOEFL or MELAB scores must be submitted.

Department Information:

Chemistry - College of Arts & Sciences

Deborah Heyl-Clegg, Ph.D.
Interim Department Head

541 Science Complex
(734) 487-0106
dheylcle@emich.edu

Department Website

Advisor Information:

Tim Brewer, Ph.D.

541 Science Complex
(734) 487-0106
tbrewer@emich.edu

Undergraduate Courses for Academic Deficiencies

Students are expected to meet the requirement of an undergraduate granted ACS Chemistry Degree. If not, they must take courses to meet their deficiencies during their first year of graduate studies (by the time they have earned 18 credit hours).

THESE COURSES CAN BE REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS WITH ACADEMIC DEFICIENCIES BUT WILL NOT COUNT TOWARDS CREDITS IN THEIR PROGRAM OF STUDY TO EARN A MASTER’S DEGREE

CHEM 361 - Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 371 - Organic Chemistry I 3 hrs
CHEM 372 - Organic Chemistry II 3 hrs
CHEM 373 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory 2 hrs
CHEM 432 - Advanced Inorganic Chemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 451 - Biochemistry | 3 hrs
CHEM 452 - Biochemistry || 3 hrs
CHEM 461 – Thermodynamics and Kinetics 3 hrs
CHEM 465 - Quantum and Statistical Mechanics 3 hrs
CHEM 481 - Instrumental Analysis 4 hrs

Degree Requirements: 30-34 hours

Students in this program follow either the Thesis Plan or the Non-Thesis Plan. All students must take one-credit hour courses in information retrieval, safety, and scientific writing in addition to distribution requirements of three graduate chemistry courses in various disciplines.

Required Courses: 2 hours

Distribution Requirement Courses: 6-9 hours

Courses from at least three areas of chemistry must be taken

l. Analytical
CHEM 581 - Advanced Analytical Chemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 591 - Special Topics 2 hrs
II. Inorganic/Environmental
CHEM 632 - Structural Inorganic Chemistry 3 hrs
III. Organic
CHEM 571 - Advanced Organic Chemistry 3 hrs
IV. Physical
CHEM 561 - Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy 2 hrs
CHEM 562 - Statistical Mechanics and Chemical Kinetics 2 hrs
V. Biochemistry:
CHEM 555 - Neurochemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 556 - Cell Signaling and Disease 3 hrs
CHEM 557 - Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design 3 hrs
CHEM 558 - Chemical Biology 3 hrs
VI. Polymer
CHEM 665 - Physical Chemistry of Polymers 2 hrs
CHEM 675 - Advanced Organic Polymer Chemistry 3 hrs

Thesis Plan:

This plan requires satisfactory completion of a minimum of 30 hours of graduate credit.

Students will be accepted into the thesis plan after two semesters of enrollment and at least one credit taken under an advisor. The student will be approved to continue with the thesis plan based upon the recommendation of their graduate advisor and approval of the graduate committee.

Three additional required courses for this thesis plan are:

CHEM 530 - Introduction to Scientific Writing for Chemists 1 hr
CHEM 690 - Directed Reading and Thesis Proposal 1 hr
CHEM 693 - Seminar in Chemistry 1 hr

Thesis plan students must submit a written thesis based on original research along with an oral presentation of the research to the Chemistry Department. A maximum of 10 hours of CHEM 697 /698 /699 may be used toward the degree in the thesis plan. For research credits to be awarded, a written report of research must be submitted to and approved by the research advisor

Non-Thesis Plan:

This plan requires satisfactory completion of a minimum of 30 hours of graduate credits. Students must complete a total of six to ten hours of graduate based laboratory courses CHEM 533 /552 /563 and/or CHEM 697 /698 /699 – Research in Chemistry. A maximum of six research credits can be completed under the non-thesis plan. For research credits to be awarded, a written report of research must be submitted to the research advisor and approved by the research mentor.

Elective Courses:

Courses selected from among graduate courses at the 500- or 600-level. Courses are selected in consultation with the graduate coordinator and student’s thesis research director.

Courses that are offered include those in the distribution requirements along with those below:

CHEM 515 - Industrial and Environmental Chemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 565 - Nuclear Chemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 572 - Spectrometric Organic Structure Determination 3 hrs
CHEM 581 - Advanced Analytical Chemistry 3 hrs
CHEM 610 - Information Retrieval in Chemistry 1 hr
The following laboratory courses may be taken with the approval of the Graduate Coordinator:
CHEM 530 - Introduction to Scientific Writing for Chemists 1 hr
CHEM 533 - Inorganic-Organic Synthesis Laboratory 2 hrs
CHEM 552 - Biochemistry Laboratory 2 hrs
CHEM 563 - Physical Chemistry Laboratory 2 hrs
Education Teaching/Research

Students interested in teaching may take the following elective courses with the approval of the Graduate Coordinator:
CHEM 520 - Advanced Methodology for Secondary Chemistry Teachers 4 hrs
CHEM 525 - Modern Chemistry for Educators I 3 hrs
CHEM 526 - Modern Chemistry for Educators II 3 hrs

Laboratory Courses:

Courses offered to students who wish to advance their knowledge through laboratory courses. Students who have taken undergraduate courses of CHEM 433, CHEM 453, and CHEM 463 are not eligible to take these courses for credit towards their program of study.

Research Credits:

An approved written thesis and an oral presentation of the research to the Chemistry Department is required with six to ten hours of research credit.

Cognate Courses: 0-6 hours

Zero to six hours selected from courses outside the Chemistry Department with the approval of the graduate coordinator. Note: students interested in educational research may take the following cognate courses with the approval of the graduate coordinator.

Master of Science in Chemistry